Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are small integrated circuits (ICs) connected to an antenna, which can respond to an interrogating RF signal with simple identifying information, or with more complex signals depending on the size of the IC. RFID technology does not require contact or line of sight for communication. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is now economically viable and is deployed in more and more commercial and industrial applications. For example, RFID technology is now widely used for tags on items in warehouses, shops, ID or access cards, etc. In addition, RFID technology has been introduced in the payment card industry (e.g., by MasterCard, American Express and Visa) in the form of “contactless” payment or credit cards embedded with RFID tags. These contactless payment cards can be used to make electronic payment transactions via radio communication with an RFID-enabled payment terminal. The contactless payment cards can provide consumers with simple, fast and convenient ways to pay for goods and services, for example, in retail establishments, stores or supermarkets.
Several RFID technologies are available for use in contactless payment cards and card readers/terminals. The basic components of a contactless system are the contactless reader (or Proximity Coupling Device (PCD)) and a transponder. The contactless reader is an antenna connected to an electronic circuit. A transponder consists of an inductive antenna and an integrated circuit connected to the ends of this antenna. The combination reader-transponder behaves as a transformer. An alternating current passes through a primary coil (reader antenna) that creates an electromagnetic field, which induces a current in the secondary coil (transponder antenna). The transponder converts the electromagnetic field (or RF field) transmitted by the contactless reader (PCD) into a DC voltage by means of a diode rectifier. This DC voltage powers up the transponder's internal circuits. The configuration and tuning of both antennas determines the coupling efficiency from one device to the other. The transponders may be the contactless payment cards.
For contactless payment card systems to be economically viable and to gain commercial acceptance, the contactless payment cards must be interoperable at all or most RFID-enabled payment terminals, even when the cards and terminals have technological features that are proprietary to specific card providers/issuers, vendors or terminal manufacturers. Industry-wide interoperability is desirable. Towards this end, industry standards organizations and groups (e.g., International Organization for Standards (ISO) and International Electro Technical Committee (IEC)) have formulated voluntary industry standards for implementation of contactless payment technologies. Three such exemplary standards which have been defined by ISO/IEC are the ISO/IEC 10536, ISO/IEC 14443, and ISO/IEC 15693 standards applicable to Close Coupling, Proximity and Vicinity cards, respectively.
The ISO/IEC 14443 proximity card standards (ISO 14443) have been used for several contactless card deployments worldwide. The targeted range of operations for ISO 14443 proximity cards is up to 10 cms, although this range varies depending on power requirements, memory size, CPU, and co-processor.
The ISO 14443 standards document has four distinct parts.                Part 1: Physical Characteristics, defines the physical dimensions for a Proximity Integrated Circuit Card (PICC). The card is the ID-1 size (85.6 mm×54.0 mm×0.76 mm). This is the same size as a bank credit card.        Part 2: Radio Frequency Power and Signal Interface, defines key technical characteristics of the contactless IC chips, including items such as frequency, data rate, modulation, and bit coding procedures. Two variations are detailed in Part 2, the Type A interface and the Type B interface. Both operate at the same frequency and use the same data rate, but they differ from one another in the areas of modulation and bit coding.        Part 3: Initialization and Anticollision. Initialization describes the requirements for proximity coupling device (PCD) (i.e., the reader) and the card to establish communication when the card is brought into the reader's radio frequency (RF) field. Anticollision defines what happens when multiple cards enter the magnetic field at the same time, identifying how the system determines which card to use in the transaction and ensuring that all cards presented are inventoried and processed.        Part 4: Transmission Protocols, defines the data format and data elements that enable communication during a transaction.        
For a system of contactless payment cards and card readers to be compliant with ISO 14443, they must meet the requirements of at least some of parts of the voluntary standard. In addition to contactless technologies that are standardized under ISO 14443, a number of proprietary contactless interfaces are also used in the industry (e.g., Cubic's GO-Card and Sony's FeliCa card). With existing card technology deployments, interoperability can be an issue. Card readers deployed by vendors in the marketplace should preferably accommodate several different card types. For example, a desirable card reader would support ISO 14443 Type A and Type B cards, ISO 15693 cards and any additional proprietary card types.
Interoperability issues can arise even with card deployments that are presumably compliant with a single ISO standard (e.g., ISO 14443). In the ISO 14443 standard, all requirements or specifications related to RF Power and signal interfaces in the contactless card and reader system (i.e., the physical layer in an Open System Interconnection (OSI) model view of the system) are defined using separate standardized tests for cards and for readers. The ISO/IEC 10373 Standard Part 6 (ISO 10373-6) deals with test methods, which are specific to contactless integrated circuit card technology (proximity card). Compliance of contactless cards and readers to ISO 14443 is verified using reference devices. According to ISO 10373-6, a set of “reference” cards (i.e., Reference PICC), which represent the characteristics of contactless cards, is used for measuring specification compliance of a contactless reader. (See, e.g., FIG. 1a). For example, the Reference PICC is used to test the magnetic field produced or transmitted by a PCD, and to test the ability of the PCD to power a PICC. Similarly, a “reference” reader (i.e., a Test or Reference PCD), which may represent the characteristics of a typical contactless reader, is used for measuring specification compliance of contactless cards. For example, the Reference PCD in conjunction with a pair of external sense coils is used to test the load modulation that is generated by cards during testing.
While the separate card and reader compliance test procedures under ISO 10373-6 may ensure that deployed product devices individually have characteristics that fall in either the designated specification ranges for cards or readers, the procedures do not ensure interoperability in the field. Cards and/or readers verified as compliant may be only marginally so (e.g., by having a characteristic value at the end or edge of a designated specification range). This manner of standards compliance can lead to operational failure in the field. For example, a marginally compliant card may be unreadable or difficult to read using a card reader that is also only marginally compliant.
Further, with respect to verifying important data transmission and reception functions of contactless devices, ISO 10373-6 makes provisions for only indirect measurements of the load modulated data signals generated by cards. A PCD Test Assembly prescribed by ISO 10373-6 for testing product cards has a pair of sense coils that are external to the reference PCD reader. These external sense coils are utilized to measure the load modulated data signal generated and transmitted by card under test. However, there is no direct or obvious relation between the load modulated signal measured by the sense coils and the signal that is physically received by the reference PCD antenna. Therefore, testing of data transmission functions of a product card using the external sense coils does provide direct assurance that a putatively ISO compliant product card's modulation of data signals is sufficient or compatible with a product reader's ability to receive or process the modulated data signals properly.
U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 11/182,354, Ser. No. 11/182,355, Ser. No. 11/182,357, and Ser. No. 11/182,358, disclose solutions for enhancing device interoperability based on improvements in specification definitions, reference equipment and compliance testing related to the RF power and signal interface between interacting card and reader devices.
Consideration is now being given to further ways of enhancing interoperability of the electronic payment devices and also to making the operation the contactless electronic payment systems robust and failure proof. Attention is now directed to aspects of electronic payment systems related to the physical characteristics and dimensions of contactless payment devices.